Australian banks have unveiled a new name-matching service designed to help protect customers from being tricked into sending money to criminals.
The Confirmation of Payee is a key initiative of the sector’s Scam-Safe Accord, which safeguards by banks to help keep the money of Australians safe, with $100 million invested to make this technology a reality.
The service is activated when a customer makes a first-time payment using a BSB and account number. After entering the account name and payment details, and before making a payment, a matching service checks whether the information matches the recipient’s bank data. If the details match, the account name will be displayed for confirmation. If there’s a close match (eg: “John Smyth” instead of “John Smith”), the customer will see the account name and can confirm if it’s correct.
For individual accounts with no match, the customer will be shown a warning, and the account name won’t be shown to help protect privacy. For business and government accounts, the account name may still be shown.
With the information provided by the technology, the customer can then decide whether to proceed with the payment, pause and review the details again, or cancel the payment altogether.
Adrian Lovney, chief payments and schemes officer at Australian Payments Plus (AP+), which developed the service, said Confirmation of Payee helps reduce scams and mistaken payments by checking whether the name, BSB and account number entered by a customer match the account details held by the receiving bank and showing the match result before payment is made.
“Confirmation of Payee is all about giving customers greater control and confidence when making payments,” Lovney said. “It’s a simple concept, but it adds a powerful extra layer of protection for everyday transactions.”
Australian Banking Association CEO Anna Bligh said that while Australia was one of the few countries in the world where scam losses were decreasing, investing further in the latest scam-fighting technology was crucial to driving losses down even further.
“This is critical new technology that will help protect a customer from transferring money straight into the hands of a scammer,” Bligh said. “When the rollout is complete, Australia will be one of only a handful of countries to have this technology in place across the entire banking sector, ensuring customers are protected regardless of who they bank with.”
Customer Owned Banking Association Chair Elizabeth Crouch described the Confirmation of Payee service as a big leap forward in customer protection.
“Australia’s mutual banks are working hard to protect their customers’ money and the new Confirmation of Payee service is a big leap forward,” Crouch said. “Customer-owned banks put their customers first and are committed to doing everything they can to deliver effective fraud and scam protections that work for their customers and communities.”
A national awareness campaign has been launched as well under the tag line “Check the name. Spot the scam” to educate customers about this new technology.
